1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a control system for an automotive side rearview mirror and, more particularly, to a rearview mirror control system for automatically adjusting the rear viewing angle of an automotive side rearview mirror to eliminate a blind spot during certain vehicle operating conditions, such as lane changes and lane merging, based on input signals from one or more of vehicle speed, vehicle yaw rate, hand-wheel angle, turn signal information, GPS information, map information, etc.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Automobile manufacturers are continuously looking for new systems and improvements for vehicles to prevent vehicular accidents, and protect vehicle occupants. One known vehicle safety system automatically turns the vehicle's headlights when the vehicle is turning a corner to allow the vehicle operator to see more of the road ahead. Vehicle side rearview mirrors are oriented to provide the vehicle operator with an optimum rear viewing zone behind and to the left and right of the vehicle to allow the vehicle operator to more safely operate the vehicle. However, when the vehicle is traveling around a corner, changing lanes, merging into a lane of traffic, etc., because the rear viewing zone is fixed there may be a blind spot in the optimum rear viewing angle that may prevent the operator from seeing other vehicles.